The oven disclosed herein relates primarily to ovens suitable for use in the commercial food service industry, such as fast food restaurants, and other food service application where there is great variety in the food products prepared, the need for speedy thermalization of food and space constraints. While various oven designs are known and available for commercial food service applications, there still exists a need for an efficient, cost-effective oven that provides high speed cooking of a wide range of food products. Convection cooking ovens, including ovens that utilize microwave, are available and well known. While such ovens meet the needs of certain commercial food service applications by providing rapid thermalization and cooking, the use of microwave complicates oven design and adds costs to the oven.
The present invention provides an oven that meets a need in the food service industry for an oven that is both cost-effective and provides rapid heating/cooking without the need for microwave energy to boost cooking speed.